In an elevator, a monitoring camera is installed above a doorway of a car, and performs an imaging operation to obtain an image of the doorway and vicinity thereof, and the obtained image is analyzed to check the state of a passenger or passengers who get into and/or off the car, in order to take countermeasures for ensuring safety when the door is opened/closed.
However, in an adjustment function of the monitoring camera, it is impossible to properly handle a change of an environment, especially, a change of the brightness which occurs when the door is opened/closed. Therefore, there is a possibility that an image having a lower quality will be obtained, and thus safety will not reliably be ensured when the door is opened/closed.
Therefore, in an imaging operation for the doorway and the vicinity thereof, it is required that the quality of an image obtained by the imaging operation when the door is opened/closed is improved, and more effective countermeasures for ensuring safety when the door is opened/closed are taken.